SLIPKNOT played its first headlining show since the death of bassist Paul Gray on June 21 at Columbiahalle in Berlin, Germany. As was the case with the band’s appearances at the Sonisphere festivals in Greece, Turkey, Switzerland and Italy, Gray‘s red jumpsuit, mask and bass guitar stood at the back of the stage while his bandmates performed. The rest of the group’s members donned red jumpsuits and older versions of their trademark masks from SLIPKNOT‘s earlier days, in tribute to their fallen bandmate.

SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan told The Pulse Of Radio recently that Gray would somehow still be part of the band’s show. “Just because he’s gone, does that mean I have to take him out of the scenario and the answer is no,” he said. “He will a part of SLIPKNOT‘s stage, he will be a part of SLIPKNOT‘s music, he will be a part of everything that we do for the rest of our lives. And he wants me artistically to bring him in, some twisted, maybe even demented way into the show.”

Playing bass for the band is Donnie Steele, who was the guitarist in an early incarnation of the group. Steele, however, is hidden from the audience’s view.

Gray passed away in May 2010 from an accidental overdose of drugs, leaving behind his wife Brenna and daughter October, who was born the following August.